“What am I thinking right now?” - and 19 more of the hardest interview questions

Diane King

Published:16:10Wednesday 22 February 2017

Share this article

Mind reading, psychology and social justice - just three subjects you might not expect to crop up in an interview for a job in accountancy or computing.

However, they all feature in the 20 hardest interview questions, as reported in a survey by recruitment firm Glassdoor.com.

“What am I thinking right now?” was perhaps the question least suited to any post outside a circus sideshow, while estimating the number of goals in the Premier League might prove trickier for a real-life Statto than the TV pundit version.

Glassdoor’s David Whitby, said: “Preparing for an interview thoroughly means being ready for anything, even a curve ball question not directly related to the job.

“Remember, it’s not necessarily about getting the right answer, more how you cope under pressure.”

So, perhaps the top question on the list of 20 perhaps cuts to the chase better than anything else…

The 20 toughest job interview questions

1. “What on your CV is the closest thing to a lie?” – The Phoenix Partnership

2. “What am I thinking right now?” – TES Global

3. “How would your enemy describe you?” – Condé Nast

4. “If you had a friend who was great for a job and an identical person who was just as good, but your friend earned you £2,000 less, who would you give the job to?” – Hays Recruitment

5. “What’s the most selfish thing you’ve ever done?” – PageGroup

6. “You are stranded on the moon with a group of other astronauts and you need to travel 200 miles back to base, here is a list of 15 items salvaged from the wreckage of the spacecraft you were travelling in. List them in order of importance.” – Turnstone Sales

7. “If your best friend was here what advice would he give you?” – American Express